Minneapolis Fed President Gary H. Stern Announces Retirement; Search Under Way for Successor

Minneapolis, April 2, 2009—
Gary H. Stern, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, today announced that he plans to retire from the Reserve Bank this summer. Stern, 64, has headed the Minneapolis Fed since 1985, and is the longest-serving Federal Reserve Bank president.

“It has been truly an honor to spend most of my career working at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis,” Stern said. “I have been fortunate to work with three outstanding Chairmen—Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan and now Ben Bernanke—over my 24 years as Bank president. We have faced considerable challenges over this time, and certainly today's financial and economic environment has been the most difficult. I am confident that with the Chairman's leadership, along with other outstanding policymakers in the Federal Reserve, our financial system will fully stabilize and our economy will once again resume growth,” Stern said.

Stern joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 1982 as senior vice president and director of Research. Before that, he was a partner in a New York-based economic consulting firm. Stern's prior experience includes seven years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

“Gary Stern has made significant contributions to the Bank, the Federal Reserve System and the Ninth Federal Reserve District. Gary has served as chairman of the Federal Reserve System's Financial Services Policy Committee at a time of unprecedented changes, helping guide the Fed through some difficult, but important decisions that led to greater efficiency for consumers and the payments system as a whole. Further, Gary's thoughtful views on the too-big-to-fail problem were unfortunately quite prescient, but at the same time he continued to develop common-sense solutions that are designed to move our financial system forward during these challenging times,” said James J. Hynes, chairman of the Minneapolis Bank's board of directors and executive administrator, Twin City Pipe Trades Services Association in St. Paul, Minn.

Hynes will head a committee that will conduct a nationwide search for candidates to replace Stern as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

As one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis contributes to a variety of Federal Reserve System functions, including operation of a nationwide payments system, distribution of the nation's currency and coin, supervision and regulation of member banks and bank holding companies, and serving as a fiscal agent for the U.S. Treasury. Additionally, the president of the Minneapolis Fed serves as a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking arm of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. Together with its branch in Helena, Mont., the Minneapolis Fed serves the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.